An internal enquiry has been initiated into how the tax affairs of Akshata Murty, wife of UK’s finance minister Rishi Sunak, were leaked to a newspaper.

The Whitehall investigation will examine how the
information regarding the non-domicile status of the wife of UK Chancellor
Rishi Sunak was passed to ‘The Independent’ newspaper, which first reported the
story earlier this week, reported PTI.

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Sunak’s team believes that an opposition Labour Party
official dubbed “red throat” leaked the information, according to the
Sunday Times.

There’s going to be a full Cabinet Office and HM Treasury
investigation into who had that information and if anyone has asked for that
information.

Disclosing the tax status of a private individual is a
criminal offence, the paper reported an unnamed government official as saying.

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Murty, who is an Indian national, was
“non-domiciled” in the UK for tax purposes meant she was not legally
liable to pay taxes on her overseas earnings.

This led to allegations of hypocrisy from the Opposition
leader, pointing to recent tax rises imposed by the Indian-origin finance
minister. His family was accused by the Labour Party of saving millions of dollars
because of his tax arrangement.

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On Friday, Akshata announced to pay taxes in the UK on
all her income to avoid the issue being a continued distraction for her
husband.

She wrote on Twitter, “My decision to pay UK tax on all
my worldwide income will not change the fact that India remains the country of
my birth, citizenship, parents’ home and place of domicile. But I love the UK
too”.

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According to a new opinion poll by Opinium shows Sunak’s
approval rating declined by three points to 28% since late March and his
disapproval rating has risen by eight points to 43%.